NEWS: Einsturzende Neubauten @ Boiler Shop

Einsturzende Neubauten head to Boiler Shop

By Mark Corcoran-Lettice
on Wednesday, May 3rd, 2017

Some of you may have noticed friends of yours of a post-punk or industrial persuasion getting overly excited over a band with a fairly peculiar name coming to town of late (full disclosure: I most certainly count amongst their number.)

In brief then: translating into English as Collapsing New Building, since 1980 the German band Einstürzende Neubauten have existed at the forefront of the European avant-garde, merging anarchist intentions with Dadaist wit, and noise experimentations with a great emotional pull. Led by Blixa Bargeld (better known by some for his lengthy stint in Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds), their recordings have been a testament to a band that steadfastly refuses to stand still: their most recent album, 2014’s dignified, pacifist protest record Lament, was proof enough of a band still operating at a peak of creative power.

And now, for the first time ever, Newcastle will get to experience their legendary live show. Rather than relying on samples, Neubauten recreate their astonishing machine music live every time – expect cement mixers and custom-built steel percussion to sit alongside the more typical synthesisers and bass rigs here. Arriving at the city’s own hub of industrial history, The Boiler Shop, on Friday 5th May, this is a rare coup to get very excited about – even if, unlike this writer, you avoided the temptation of naming your masters thesis after them.